By Daniel Kanu

Martin Onovo, petroleum engineer, rights activist, and presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 general election, is worried about Nigeria’s condition, which he blamed on poor leadership.

In this exclusive chat, Onovo speaks on the just-concluded Ekiti governorship election, giving a damning verdict, his fears that Nigeria may not have a free and fair election in 2023, substitution of candidates by political parties and the fuel brouhaha, among other critical national issues. Excepts:

Let’s have your brief assessment of the just concluded Ekiti governorship election?

The Ekiti governorship election has confirmed the desperation of the ruling party to continue to manipulate elections in the country. While it may be too early to evaluate the election comprehensively, the use of slush funds by corrupt members of the ruling party for vote-buying with impunity was confirmed by several independent observers. Happily, we heard some vote-buyers were arrested. Also, the ruling party was accused of using violence and snatching ballot boxes. The results have been rejected by some of the political parties. So, the results will probably be challenged in court.

So, you don’t think that there has been an improvement in terms of restoring confidence and getting a free and fair outcome?

No. Very clearly not. The arithmetic is simple. Corrupt politicians can steal public funds and deploy it for vote-buying to take power or remain in power. Using the Ekiti governorship election as an example, INEC claimed that the winner got 187,057 votes. At N10,000 per vote, only about N1.87 billion is required to buy the governorship of a state. This amount is too small to many corrupt politicians that wish to seize the governorship of a state. In this way, what we have is a vicious circle of corrupt politicians that steal public funds and deploy it for vote-buying to get to office to steal more and deploy it for vote buying again to return back to public office. We must break the vicious circle. 

What is your take on people holding positions for others, like in the case of Vice  Presidents for All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP)?

INEC elections regulations allow for the substitution of candidates for any election. We do not see anything wrong with that. It is lawful. The parties must conclude any substitution in the period allowed by INEC. The case of  vice presidential candidates should not arise as they did not contest any primary elections. They are chosen by the presidential candidate and his party. INEC regulations even allow for the substitution of candidates that won primaries. We must all comply with the regulations. Substitution of candidates is not new in our electoral process. Any party can use it.

Fuel scarcity is back again with the fear of impending price increase. What is your take?

It is unfortunate that the Buhari regime has failed woefully in all its responsibilities. It is the worst regime in the history of Nigeria. It has failed to provide security, it has destroyed the economy, it has destroyed national cohesion, it has destroyed public morality and it has promoted unprecedented levels of corruption in every sector. It has also failed in the conduct of simple routine activities like the adequate supply of fuel. This fuel scarcity is very wasteful as the fuel queues are creating bottlenecks on the road which cause traffic and waste the limited fuel available thereby worsening the scarcity. With the press statement of independent marketers (IPMAN), it is clear that the government has quietly increased the depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N162/L. This makes it unrealistic for fuel stations to sell at the official price of N165/L. Therefore, the Buhari regime has concluded plan to increase the fuel price again with this tactics.

What do you see playing out in the 2023 presidential election?

There may not be a proper election due to the insecurity and terrorism of foreign Fulani bandits directly sponsored by the ruling party. Alternatively, we may just have another charade that will be arranged by INEC in collaboration with the ruling party. That is the clear direction of the current manipulations. Also, democracy in Nigeria was founded by our colonial masters on electoral fraud. The pre-independence elections were manipulated by the colonial masters in favour of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) as can be confirmed from the confessions of a high level colonial officer, Mr Harold Smith. Also, according to Oxford University, African Studies Centre, “in almost every single colony, the British attempted to manipulate the result to their advantage”.

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With the unprecedented corruption and the desperate islamization and fulanisation agenda of the Buhari regime, it may be naïve to expect a proper election in 2023. The threats and attacks by the Fulani terrorists sponsored by the ruling party have increased recently with the Church attacked in Owo, Ondo State, many communities attacked in Kajuru, Kaduna State and Churches attacked in Rubu, Kaduna State. These attacks are calculated to frustrate the elections and in a desperate move to further the land-grabbing islamization and fulanisation agenda. In the interim, the Fulani have consolidated their control of the security establishment and the judiciary to prevent any national security response to their conquest agenda.

Do you see the Labour Party as the expected Third Force to dislodge the PDP and the APC?

The PDP is dying. The APC will scatter. The first force is coming. The Labour Party would probably lead the first force. Nigeria is clearly at the tipping point now. The PDP and the APC are two sides of the same corrupt coin and their unpatriotic and corrupt devices are responsible for the Nigerian predicament. So, the Nigerian people have decided to get rid of them. We expect that the people will win. Otherwise, prepare for even more serious crisis.What legacy do you think the Buhari government will leave behind?

A legacy of massive and uncontrolled corruption, of islamization and fulanisation terrorism, of the highest national debt ever recorded in the history of Nigeria and of unprecedented poverty and unemployment. The Buhari regime will be remembered as the worst government ever in Nigeria.

Why are you no longer seeking for elective position after your last attempt at the presidency in 2015?

In 2019  we all agreed to work together against the ruling party as CUPP. In 2023, we can see the desperation of the ruling party and also their plan to disrupt the elections with nationwide Fulani terrorist violence. It is naïve to expect the Buhari regime and the current INEC leadership to conduct a free and fair election. The Benue State governor (Samuel Ortom) has correctly declared that, ‘Buhari is working for the Fulani to take over Nigeria’.

What do you sincerely think is the way forward for Nigeria?

The way forward is restructuring Nigeria back to a fiscal federation as we were in 1963. Restructuring will bring back the productive post-independence competition of the regions and the rapid development of that period.

Fiscal federalism is the foundational principle of Nigeria as agreed at the pre-independence Lancaster conference. Prior to the military intervention of 1966, the three regions had a healthy productive competition developing their human and material resources. With the military take-over of government, the military imposed a unitary system of government in line with their unitary military command structure.

The unitary military creation of 12 states by Gen. Yakubu Gowon in 1967, undermined the healthy productive competition of the federating units which were now smaller and weaker. Then, with the oil boom of the early 70s, the healthy productive competition of the federating units withered and turned to this unhealthy unproductive competition for a bigger share of the oil revenue a.k.a national cake. This withering of the prior productive competition was caused by the combined weight of the unitary system, smaller and weaker federating units, the oil boom, the unitary revenue allocation principle and the pathetic political leadership. Several analysts insist that restructuring Nigeria back to six regions with devolution of powers and fiscal federalism will return our country to the healthy productive competition of the regions and to the associated economic productivity. This is very valid in our opinion. In addition, all agree that Nigeria needs to diversify its economy for growth. The unjust, inefficient and corrupt unitary system we run has been unable to achieve this since the last 30 years. Restructuring will allow the regions to focus on their different comparative advantages and thereby diversify our national economy for rapid development. We remember the groundnut pyramids of the Northern region, the vast cocoa export of the Western region and the massive palm oil export of the Eastern region during the First Republic.

Similarly, electric power is critical to productivity and economic development, but it is in the exclusive list of our current unitary structure. Unfortunately, the inefficient and corrupt unitary system has been unable to deliver significant power supply for so many decades. With restructuring, the regions can develop regional power supply schemes using the particular resources in their regions. This will boost productivity and economic development in Nigeria.

Furthermore, peace is necessary for development. The current structure is skewed and unjust as it deprives some regions and favours others with a ‘rob John to pay Ibrahim’ system. This is not only with southern oil revenue, but also with VAT, CIT, Ports revenue, etc. This is aggravated by the regional and religious domination that is established with the current state structure that maintains 19 states and Abuja in the North and only 17 states in the South. This has institutionalized injustice in Nigeria and so, promotes agitations and conflicts that hinder economic growth and national development. According to Pope Paul VI, “if you want peace, work for justice”. So, let us work for justice to achieve peace. The way forward for Nigeria is restructuring.